Thaju Salam, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Merriam, KSNPI 1295794733
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $8,921 of the $10,521 with a category attached, or 84.8%. It is spread thinly across 36 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 19.7% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $4,000 and has fallen 83.1% since, to $675 in 2025.
Across 441 payments — averaging $23.86 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$2K
- Amgen$1K
- Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.$929
- Boston Scientific$861
- Pfizer$626
- Novartis$586
- plus $4K from 30 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,43114%
- Food & beverage$8,92185%
- Education$1692%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 41 | $2,068 |
| Amgen | 65 | $1,183 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 30 | $929 |
| Boston Scientific | 28 | $861 |
| Pfizer | 33 | $626 |
| Novartis | 38 | $586 |
| Novo Nordisk | 28 | $578 |
| Abbott | 8 | $495 |
| Merck | 18 | $317 |
| AstraZeneca | 19 | $316 |
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 10 | $279 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 17 | $273 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 16 | $269 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 12 | $235 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 16 | $233 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 11 | $154 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 6 | $154 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 3 | $137 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 6 | $100 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 5 | $79 |
| Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. | 4 | $77 |
| Bayer | 3 | $76 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, PLC | 3 | $72 |
| Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc. | 2 | $58 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 2 | $50 |
| Philips North America LLC | 2 | $45 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 2 | $41 |
| Bridgebio Pharma, Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| Kestra Medical Technology Services, Inc. | 1 | $36 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $29 |
| Gilead | 2 | $25 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 2 | $24 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Cardiva Medical, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 1 | $15 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
How this compares
$10,521 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 175 cardiovascular disease providers in Kansas.
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 633 | $601,046 |
| OpsumitMacitentan | 24 | $300,608 |
| MultaqDronedarone Hcl | 145 | $175,603 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 124 | $123,520 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 110 | $114,886 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 125 | $98,647 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 71 | $80,136 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 74 | $73,557 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 59 | $51,858 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 13 | $13,907 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 143 | $13,051 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 19 | $12,904 |
| VascepaIcosapent Ethyl | 12 | $11,968 |
| Varenicline Tartrate | 35 | $9,380 |
| CorlanorIvabradine Hcl | 29 | $7,404 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| PfizerEliquis | $626 | $601,046633 claims |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.Opsumit | $929 | $300,60824 claims |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLCMultaq | $235 | $175,603145 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $154 | $114,886110 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $233 | $98,647125 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $578 | $80,13671 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $586 | $73,55774 claims |
| AstraZenecaBrilinta | $316 | $12,90419 claims |
| AmgenCorlanor | $1,183 | $7,40429 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 85th percentile of 175 cardiovascular disease providers in Kansas.
Other cardiovascular disease in Merriam
- Andrew WatersMerriam$12K
- Mazda BiriaMerriam$10K
- Michelle DewMerriam$9K
- Matthew ButlerMerriam$5K
- Bassem ChehabWichita$482K
- Vasvi SinghOverland Park$405K
- Joseph GalichiaWichita$177K
- Wassim ShaheenWichita$137K
- Layne ReusserWichita$91K
- Aziz MaksoudWichita$81K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.